Impacts of Caregivers’ Nutrition Knowledge and Food Market Accessibility on Preschool Children’s Dietary Diversity in Remote Communities in Southeast Nigeria

Robert Onyeneke,Anthony Oko-Isu,Mark Umunna Amadi,Chinyere Nwajiuba,Jane Munonye,Francis Anosike,Adewale Adeolu,Christiana Igberi,Christian Uwadoka

doi:10.3390/su11061688

Robert Onyeneke, Anthony Oko-Isu + Show 7 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su11061688

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Abstract

Empirical evidence is scanty on the nexus between caregivers’ nutrition knowledge, market accessibility, and preschool children’s dietary diversity in remote communities of Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria. To fill this gap, this study evaluated the effects of caregivers’ nutrition knowledge and access to food market on dietary diversity of preschool children. We used cross-sectional data from four hundred households selected from twenty remote communities in Southeast Nigeria. The study adopted instrumental variable regression to estimate the impacts of nutrition knowledge and food market access on preschool children’s dietary diversity. The findings show that in remote communities, caregivers’ nutrition knowledge and households’ closeness to the market improved preschool children’s dietary diversity. The study demonstrates the potential of improving preschool children’s nutrition outcomes through enhancing access to food market and the nutrition knowledge of the caregivers.

Highlights

This millennium has witnessed a revolution in programs and projects aimed at improving the nutritional wellbeing—macro- and micronutrient intakes—of under-five or preschool children
Using cross-sectional data carefully collected from four hundred households in southeast Nigeria, we found that there is a moderate knowledge gap on appropriate feeding practices among caregivers of preschool children
We employed instrumental variable regression to consistently estimate the impacts of nutrition knowledge and food market on dietary diversity of preschool children

Summary

Introduction

This millennium has witnessed a revolution in programs and projects aimed at improving the nutritional wellbeing—macro- and micronutrient intakes—of under-five or preschool children. Improved nutrition in rural areas will enhance child development, while diminishing mortality and morbidity [6,7,8,9]. This has stimulated research regarding preschool children’s intake of diverse and nutritious diets [7]. Mothers or caregivers’ knowledge or understanding of appropriate foods in their right proportions given to preschool children is necessary to improve the nutritional wellbeing of the children [7,10,11]. Many caregivers do not have adequate knowledge about the nutrient composition of certain foods that should be given to preschool children [11]

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